China's grip on news under attack

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It could have been the scoop of the year: the Deputy Governor of
Henan province had reportedly conspired with a local mayor to have
his wife killed and chopped up. If proven, the murder would rank as
one of the worst crimes by a senior official for decades.

But the story was a minefield. Knowing how many papers have been
closed down, and how many journalists arrested, for covering such
sensitive topics, most editors gave Henan a wide berth.

The exception was the Nanfang (Southern) Daily Press
Group, whose papers are increasingly earning national respect,
and official condemnation, for their coverage of China's social
ills.

When reports of the killing emerged last month, reporters from
two of the group's flagship titles, the Southern Metropolitan
Daily and Southern Weekend, flew to the provincial
capital, Zhengzhou, and talked to the victim's family, colleagues
and detectives.

Off-the-record sources confirmed the murder and arrest, but a
request for an official comment effectively killed the story.
Henan's propaganda department ordered a news blackout.

It was nothing new. That week, three other Southern
Weekend stories were spiked by the authorities. Nothing was
published on police negligence in floods that killed 100
schoolchildren, nor on six villagers murdered in battles with gangs
recruited by power companies to kick them off their land, nor poor
safety planning that led to a fire in which 31 died.

"As a journalist, my job should be focused on writing a good
report. But half of my effort is spent on considering how to get a
story past the censors and the likelihood of punishment," said Liu
Jianqiang, whose Henan story was spiked.

The risks are great. Last year, three editors from the Nanfang
group were imprisoned on fraud charges, an act of revenge by the
local public security bureau embarrassed by scoops about police
brutality and corruption.

But the system that nurtured so many good journalists is still
in place. Guangdong was one of the first provinces to open to the
outside world. Reflecting its modern business environment, the
Southern Weekend blazed a trail in 1992 when its parent
company, a party-controlled propaganda organ, transformed what had
been a four-page celebrity gossip sheet into a hard-hitting news
weekly.

It was a huge success. The Nanfang Weekend now has a
1.3 million circulation nationwide. By breaking stories before
officialdom had a chance to censor them, it and sister papers such
as the Southern Metropolitan Daily and The Beijing
News, have had more influence than others in shaping public
debate on the dramatic social changes taking place in China.